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Dollar store coffee

I'm not a coffee snob. I usually buy and drink the American mass-market brands: Maxwell House, Folgers, Chock Full o'Nuts (my most recent) - all perfectly fine. On sale, of course. And I was drinking Wegmans' store brand coffee for a while this year; the price was right and the quality quite good. Especially their French Roast.

This month I was in more dire straits than usual and was shopping at the dollar store. (Dollar Tree, to be precise.) They had ground coffee available. 7 ounces for $1.

Re: Dollar store coffee

I buy cheap coffee. One of those big 30something ounce size Master Chef cans costs like $5.50. I put hazelnut powdered and regular powdered creamer plus half and half, I like my coffee light, like my men. It tastes fine. I might try the one at Dollar Tree, I don't think I've ever seen it.

Re: Dollar store coffee

Originally Posted by reone

Don't care for the taste of coffee at all, but that smell. It's so warm and inviting. I would like for my house to smell like coffee and vanilla, but I'm afraid that I'd eventually fall out of love with it.

I haven't heard of any of those brands except for Folgers.

There was this guy that I knew through a former job that always got Dunkin Donuts coffee that smelled amazing. I think there was caramel something in it.

Re: Dollar store coffee

I bought a couple of packages of the Dollar Tree coffee a month or so ago. The coffee was from Vietnam. It was not terrible; it was, in fact, much like Kona coffee from Hawaii. Not my favorite, however. I mostly get coffee beans on sale from Cost Plus.

Re: Dollar store coffee

Originally Posted by MainEntry

I bought a couple of packages of the Dollar Tree coffee a month or so ago. The coffee was from Vietnam. It was not terrible; it was, in fact, much like Kona coffee from Hawaii. Not my favorite, however. I mostly get coffee beans on sale from Cost Plus.

Maybe yours was fresher? Mine wasn't at all to my taste.

Originally Posted by reone Don't care for the taste of coffee at all, but that smell. It's so warm and inviting. I would like for my house to smell like coffee and vanilla, but I'm afraid that I'd eventually fall out of love with it.

Re: Dollar store coffee

BBNINJ...

Quality shows as quality does.

Coffee, cheese, beef and booze.

Buy quality clothes you don't need to waste time or money or underwear...
unless that fulflils a fetish.

We are all foreigners on here. Yyou say you are a dirty one. Is that a
moral or hygiene issue? If it's the former, lets swap idea with all of the
JUBbervillers. If it's the latter, my boys can get to you next for a full body
wash and a free lube.....

Re: Dollar store coffee

Originally Posted by Lefty

BBNINJ...

Quality shows as quality does.

Coffee, cheese, beef and booze.

Buy quality clothes you don't need to waste time or money or underwear...
unless that fulflils a fetish.

We are all foreigners on here. Yyou say you are a dirty one. Is that a
moral or hygiene issue? If it's the former, lets swap idea with all of the
JUBbervillers. If it's the latter, my boys can get to you next for a full body
wash and a free lube.....

Now that you mention it, my shiny red car could do with a wash, Lefty... I'm happy to employ these young gentlemen to service me it, even if they are in Johannesburg (judging from that awesome numberplate) and therefore probably a bit air-headed and thick...

Re: Dollar store coffee

The only way you can tell if the coffee is shit is by its price. Other than that, it's impossible.

I played a prank on my friend once. He loves coffee. I got him a cup of coffee from a vending machine but told him it's a sample from Starbucks for an expensive brand coffee. He liked it. Then I told the correct source of the coffee. He hated it. Yeah

Re: Dollar store coffee

Originally Posted by Ram

I played a prank on my friend once. He loves coffee. I got him a cup of coffee from a vending machine but told him it's a sample from Starbucks for an expensive brand coffee. He liked it. Then I told the correct source of the coffee. He hated it. Yeah

LOL he didn't like it because it's not from Starbucks? Sad.

Originally Posted by Saybrooke

I was at the gym once, and this woman was on the elliptical next to me, making motorcycle noises.

Re: Dollar store coffee

American Starbucks coffee is shit IDST. How the suffering fuck they manage to have millions of you lot running in there daily to buy that stuff is beyond me. As a scientist I did a proper test - I tried it in DC, NY, Denver and Los Angeles just in case I got a dud batch at one them, but it was bollocks everywhere. I'd bomb them if I had half a chance of doing so.

UK Starbucks coffee is better, but only just. And I only went there because the people I was staying with go in there all the time and I was dragged into several on my recent tour. Starbucks in France - I didn't even try their coffee, opting for a muffin and some frozen stuff in order to use the free wifi to check my mail while in Paris.

Re: Dollar store coffee

Originally Posted by blackbeltninja

American Starbucks coffee is shit IDST. How the suffering fuck they manage to have millions of you lot running in there daily to buy that stuff is beyond me. As a scientist I did a proper test - I tried it in DC, NY, Denver and Los Angeles just in case I got a dud batch at one them, but it was bollocks everywhere. I'd bomb them if I had half a chance of doing so.

-d-

I'll supply the yellow-cake uranium if you'll destroy every last one.

"Thereís death on the horizon,and Iíll run to behold your sacrifice..."

Re: Dollar store coffee

This is why I never buy food at dollar stores.

The problem with Starbucks is they burn not roast their beans. The sad part is, its Seattle Best's coffee is much better than its Starbucks crap. The only one I do like is their Christmas blend. Course I am not above drinking instant coffee at times either.

Re: Dollar store coffee

Originally Posted by blackbeltninja

American Starbucks coffee is shit IDST. How the suffering fuck they manage to have millions of you lot running in there daily to buy that stuff is beyond me. As a scientist I did a proper test - I tried it in DC, NY, Denver and Los Angeles just in case I got a dud batch at one them, but it was bollocks everywhere. I'd bomb them if I had half a chance of doing so.

UK Starbucks coffee is better, but only just. And I only went there because the people I was staying with go in there all the time and I was dragged into several on my recent tour. Starbucks in France - I didn't even try their coffee, opting for a muffin and some frozen stuff in order to use the free wifi to check my mail while in Paris.

-d-

OK- we get your point. You REALLY hate Starbucks ....but let me ask you - what's top notch in SA?

Re: Dollar store coffee

Originally Posted by blackbeltninja

Now that you mention it, my shiny red car could do with a wash, Lefty... I'm happy to employ these young gentlemen to service me it, even if they are in Johannesburg (judging from that awesome numberplate) and therefore probably a bit air-headed and thick...

-d-

My man on the left does the tail work.
My man on the right takes care of the front..
My other man (the guy in black) is my lube man.
If the boys can't fulfill your needs I will come down
and

demonstrate it all to them again. If you are up to it,
I'll give you a 20% participant discount as well. EH.

Re: Dollar store coffee

Reminds me of Pulp Fiction.

"I don't need you to tell me how fucking good my coffee is, okay? I'm the one who buys it. I know how good it is. When Bonnie goes shopping she buys SHIT. I buy the gourmet expensive stuff because when I drink it I want to taste it."

Re: Dollar store coffee

I like the coffee from Cumberland Farms. It's only a dollar. When my partner makes coffee at home, it tastes burnt to me. She buys the Dunkin Donuts coffee, but I don't think it's the same that they use at the store. My daughter says we have to get a Keurig (sic?) pod maker. I don't see why people make coffee at home at all.

Re: Dollar store coffee

Originally Posted by cgymike

OK- we get your point. You REALLY hate Starbucks ....but let me ask you - what's top notch in SA?

I buy from certain coffee shops, but not often. Everyone else goes for the trendy Vida e Caffe, which is (for some reason) Portuguese themed - I didn't know Portugal was famous for coffee - but it's also watered-down and overpriced shit. But they're everywhere. Some restaurants use Illy or LaVazza coffee, so I'll buy a cup from them if I'm eating there. But to be honest, the only coffee I trust is the stuff I make myself; I don't tend to buy a cup to drive to work with or to drink while shopping.

***Long and terrifically interesting back-story of how Blackbeltninja came to, like, KNOW coffee***

During my Master's and PhD here at UCT Medical School, a couple of like-minded coffeecionados (see what I did there? /smug) and I put together the Acme Coffee Co, Inc. The idea was a.) we were poor, struggling students, who b.) liked proper coffee, but c.) couldn't really afford it on our pitiful grants and part-time jobs, so d.) we decided to buy a cheap filter coffee machine and proper coffee, milk and sugar, and e.) make 2 pots at a time - one for us, and one to sell to the staff in our department for a nominal fee which was lower than the coffee stall downstairs or the cafeteria in the hospital. Effectively, they would be paying for our coffee addiction. The idea was not to make profit per se, just to not cost us anything to drink the stuff. We bought only good coffee from the local and international suppliers operating in the area/coffeeshops/supermarkets - Douwe-Egberts, Jacobs, Illy, LaVazza, Ciro, Nescafe and the local agents House of Coffees and Importers. Also from some local roasting places and coffee-shops which sell them, we'd get varieties of roasted beans and make up our own blends in-house.

In short, we didn't fuck around. We wanted good coffee, so we made good coffee.

And I will say this - I KNOW good coffee, and from experience and using the carious filter machines we had at the A.C.C I know exactly how much of each brand (and even each blend within each brand) is required to make a cup of the correct strength. I'm looking at YOU, Starbucks and Vida. You didn't have to ask us for a double shot, or any stupid shit like that - it was made properly. If you wanted weak, watered-down shit because you couldn't tolerate actual properly-prepared coffee, you could get the fuck out of my office (which is where the ACC was housed, in our little communal office at the end of the corridor) and go find it elsewhere.

It was good, but we got clever and went in too deep and got ourselves into trouble. Rebranded ourselves as the Virgin-Acme Coffee Co (Virgin had just invested heavily in .za and were a big presence, so we stole their name haha suck it, Branson!). We started giving out biscotti or petit-fours as well as sweets and things with the coffee, and we let our customers rack up huge debt (like, 20 bucks each) which we struggled to claim because a.) we let them take advantage of us and b.) we kept really shoddy records. In the end, we were paying for their coffee instead of the other way round, and we got tired of having to continually make a fresh pot for a thirsty regular when we were supposed to be in the lab, working on our research.

So after 2 years of ACC and VACC, we folded and just went back to supplying for ourselves and paying for it ourselves.

The others have since moved on to other parts of the world, but I stayed in the same unit post-PhD and I still make coffee for a few of us. Same principles - only good grounds/beans, only fresh (non-UHT) milk, and brown sugar. I have a filter machine in the office, plus a desktop cappuccino machine one of the other PhDs donated, plus a plunger/French Press and, for the sake of legacy, the old Acme Coffee Co coffee grinder. It was one of our first acquisitions, brought in by a founder A.C.C. member, which he found in his parents' cupboard from their wedding back in 1971 and which still works.

Re: Dollar store coffee

Guess I don't trend well, Starbucks and them coffee boutiques do nothing for me.
Sure, I'll suck one down (just don't tell me what it was or cost.) I have been a coffee
imbiber since age 6-7 and lived with my Grandma. Cold water, clean pot and fresh
grounds. Strong brew and no pussy stuff like cream, sugar or flavors.

2-3 pots everyday...even in the hospital. No jitters, BP is 117 over 67. A bad reading is
125 over 76. (no pills) IHOP. chain in USA, is reliable no matter where you are. Always
gets a B/B+. Dennys is strictly a C. Nothing in styrofoam or treated paper (fast food)
gets above D. JMHO.

@ninja on the Dark Continent...are you doing the locally grown stuff or still going international?
Coffee beans, I am asking about coffee only at this time. j

Re: Dollar store coffee

Mostly international, hey. The most local we occasionally get is Kenyan or Ethiopian/Abyssinian varietals and roasts, but in all honesty I like the Central and South American stuff best. Nothing strictly local as in from .za, though - our own climate is geared for wine/grapes, wheat, bananas and apples, not coffee.

Re: Dollar store coffee

I have a friend from Guatemala who know lives here. She's always complaining about shitty coffee here. The worst WORST is Tim Hortons.
There's a Latin coffee shop in the city, she says that it's reasonably good there.

Re: Dollar store coffee

It's funny because the coffee I get from Dunkin Donuts (at least the one near where I live) is so watered down it's atrocious. I will also go on record and say that caffeine does not stunt growth at all.

Re: Dollar store coffee

I used to work in an office where we could only get gruesome coffee from a machine. We discovered that any coffee can be made drinkable if you put a slug of rum in it, so we all put into a rum kitty and kept a bottle in a filing cabinet. Also, though it won't matter to anyone outside Europe, the cheapo supermarket chain Lidl does a very drinkable own-brand espresso blend.

Re: Dollar store coffee

i have had coffee that tasted like mud... it was store brand instant coffee from my work. i bought it because i couldnt have a coffee pot in my dorm room but i had a hot water pot... it wasnt the same...i got rid of it because i wasnt going to drink anymore

Re: Dollar store coffee

Well I will go ahead and admit I am a coffee snob but I am not ridiculous about spending unnecessarily... basically I like a very bold roast and nothing ...even the darkest of dark coffees in folgers or maxwell house taste like coffee to me... it taste like dirty water...

So I spend regualrly on starbucks coffee but I always have them do a pour over if they dont have a roast out I enjoy. Like today I had them pour over some Komodo Dragon which is a Indonesian belnd that is very dark and spicy... however I wont buy it by the bag for making at home because at 14 bucks for 16 ounces of whole beans that is ridiculous... But to me spending 2 bucks on a cup of coffee isnt too expensive...

Now for the home brew I go to world market and usually get the Peruvian because it is so fracking tasty... but again to give you an idea of strength I typically make 16oz of coffee or one cup at a time. For that I scoop 6 tablespoons of coffee into the filter and tamp it down for a slow drip... it is really economical to me... One bag at 24 ounces last me about two weeks and that only cost 10 bucks.

Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Re: Dollar store coffee

Originally Posted by JayHawk

Well I will go ahead and admit I am a coffee snob but I am not ridiculous about spending unnecessarily... basically I like a very bold roast and nothing ...even the darkest of dark coffees in folgers or maxwell house taste like coffee to me... it taste like dirty water...

So I spend regualrly on starbucks coffee but I always have them do a pour over if they dont have a roast out I enjoy. Like today I had them pour over some Komodo Dragon which is a Indonesian belnd that is very dark and spicy... however I wont buy it by the bag for making at home because at 14 bucks for 16 ounces of whole beans that is ridiculous... But to me spending 2 bucks on a cup of coffee isnt too expensive...